Retail park development could open at end of year

Development is currently underway at the site, which will see three units built to form the new Manor Retail Park off Mill Lane.

Marks and Spencer will take one of the other units, and will open a Simply Food store there, after rejecting an alternative site in Littlehampton.

The development will also include the new base for Chandlers BMW.

A pub, for which a tenant has yet to be confirmed, will also be housed there.

Store Property Investment Ltd, which owns the site, confirmed the development was continuing as planned, but could not provide further details of all the tenants moving in or the projected timetable for them opening.

Readers were quick to share their views about the site on the paper’s Facebook page.

Julie Doe was in favour of Aldi, saying: “Hope it’s a good store. Thank goodness we won’t have to go to Portslade anymore.”

Some residents, however, were not so keen.

Carolyn Harrison said: “Like we need another supermarket. How about some regeneration of leisure facilities for all the public to enjoy, all we hear is housing and supermarkets, how about somewhere to enjoy.”

Rebecca Grimbly thought the choice of store was ‘disappointing’.

“There are definitely other much more needed retail outlets than Aldi,” she said.

Joanna Payne added the addition of Aldi meant there were ‘too many supermarkets in one area’.

As reported in the paper at the end of last year, planning permission was granted by Arun District Council’s development control committee for the retail unit to house M&S and the pub.

In identifying the proposed location, M&S bosses rejected the chance to move into the former Waitrose site, in Avon Road, Littlehampton.

“We are confident it will be successful and popular with local residents,” said M&S planning manager Andrea MacGregor-Barbour at the time.

Sarah Wickens, director of Store Property, spoke of Aldi moving in last August, stating ‘the Mill Lane site is perfect, it’s just far enough away that it wouldn’t be competing with Lidl’.

Aldi did not repond to the paper’s request for comment.

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